National Bullying Prevention Month

A few months ago it was the month of October. In the month of October, it is National Bullying Prevention Month. This month includes days dedicated to helping raise awareness of bullying, and days to take action! The first day to kick off the month is “World Day of Bullying Prevention”. Then there are days dedicated to making people feel welcomed, and a week of schools inspiring students to stand up for one another.

The first day of National Bullying Prevention month is called “World Day of Bullying Prevention,” and it occurs on the first Monday of every October, this year it occurred on Monday 7th, 2019. This day is a chance to spread awareness about bullying around the world, and to also share ideas on how to prevent it.

The first week of October is known for making people feel welcomed and accepted. The week of October 7th is to create and make new friends, challenge others and yourself to be kind to one another, and October 11 is national coming out day.

The next week, being the week of October 14th is dedicated to encouraging students to help classmates stand up to bullying around their school campus.

Making friends you don’t know yet, being kind to new people, supporting people that express who they really are, and standing up for each other is a small step to ending bullying that students are hopefully willing to take.

There are many days and weeks focused on bullying prevention, but our school participates solely in an event called Unity Day, located around the nation on October 23. Unity day is a day to show that we stand with and support victims exposed to bullying. On Unity Day individuals, schools, businesses, and whole communities wear orange to display their support for children, teens, and adults who have been bullied.

October is the month to show our support to victims of bullying, and there are many days in this month to help spread awareness. Bullying always seems to be a problem, no matter how hard people try to get rid of it. Since PACER established bullying prevention month in 2006 bullying is still a problem. More than one out of every five students from around the ages 12 to 18 have been reported being bullied. It has been reported that a rate of about 35% of children have been reported for traditional bullying, while about 15% reported being cyberbullied. Totaling about 50% of students reported being bullied.

It’s not just in this month of October that we should recognize bullying and the victims of it, we should be showing support and trying to stop bullying every day, little by little. Making new friends, being kind, and standing up for people in need is a small action to help stop a large problem.